Documentation of Places
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
11. ASSESSMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE The criteria adopted by the Heritage Council in November 1996 have been used to determine the cultural heritage significance of the place. PRINCIPAL AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC THEME(S) • 4.1 Planning urban settlements • 4.6 Remembering significant phases in the development of settlements, towns and cities • 6.2 Establishing schools • 8.13 Living in cities and suburbs HERITAGE COUNCIL OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA THEME(S) • 104 Land allocation and subdivision • 107 Settlements • 402 Education and science 11. 1 AESTHETIC VALUE* Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College, with its demonstrations of Gothic architectural design, and high standard of traditional craftsmanship demonstrated in the building facades, is significant for its substantial aesthetic contribution to the St Georges Terrace streetscape, which is otherwise characterised by contemporary high rise commercial development dating from the mid-20th to early 21st centuries. (Criteria 1.1, 1.3, & 1.4) Old Perth Boys School is reputed to have been influenced by Colonial Secretary William Sandford, a member of the Camden society that advocated the use of Gothic architecture as a reflection of theological truth, resulting in a schoolroom designed along the lines of a traditional Gothic church. (Criterion 1.2) 11. 2. HISTORIC VALUE * For consistency, all references to architectural style are taken from Apperly, R., Irving, R., Reynolds, P. A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture. Styles and Terms from 1788 to the Present, Angus and Robertson, North Ryde, 1989. For consistency, all references to garden and landscape types and styles are taken from Ramsay, J. Parks, Gardens and Special Trees: A Classification and Assessment Method for the Register of the National Estate, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1991, with additional reference to Richards, O. Theoretical Framework for Designed Landscapes in WA, unpublished report, 1997. Register of Heritage Places 3 Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College 28 June 2019 Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College demonstrates the development of the government provision of education, both elementary and technical, as well as reflecting the expanding government wealth following the introduction of convict labour and later during the Gold Boom. (Criteria 2.1 & 2.2) Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College are physical remnants of the transformation of St Georges Terrace in the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries; from struggling colonial outpost to administrative centre, and after the Gold Boom into the central business street of Perth and thus Western Australia. (Criteria 2.1 & 2.2) Perth Technical College is located on Perth Town Lots 15 and 16, which in the early years of the colony was a holding of Henry Willey Reveley, Civil Engineer to the Swan River Colony, and the site of his watermill, one of the earliest mills in the Colony. (Criteria 2.1, 2.2 & 2.3) Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College demonstrates a growing awareness of the importance of Western Australia’s heritage during the 1960s which evolved from activism by the National Trust (Western Australia) and expanded in later decades to see the retention and conservation of heritage buildings and their sensitive redevelopment to service new purposes. (Criteria 2.2) Old Perth Boys School was designed by Superintendent of Public Works Richard Roach Jewell, and the design is reputed to have been influenced by Willian Sandford, Colonial Secretary from 1852-1855. (Criterion 2.3) Perth Technical College was designed by Hillson Beasley, chief architect at the Public Works Department and who was responsible for a number of government and educational buildings of the period. (Criterion 2.3) Perth Technical College was constructed by William Atkins, who built a number of significant government buildings during the early Twentieth Century. (Criterion 2.3) 11. 3. SCIENTIFIC VALUE Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College has significant potential to provide new information on the lives and activities of those involved in the government education system between 1854 and the 1960s, which can be uncovered through archaeological investigation of the sites. (Criterion 3.2) Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College has the potential to explore and interpret the architectural theories behind the provision of education. (Criterion 3.2) 11. 4. SOCIAL VALUE Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College has high social value as demonstrated by the community response to the threats of demolition, which saw the buildings conserved and Old Perth Boys School serve for a time as the headquarters of the National Trust of Australia (WA). (Criterion 4.1) Register of Heritage Places 4 Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College 28 June 2019 12. DEGREE OF SIGNIFICANCE 12. 1. RARITY Old Perth Boys School is very rare as an example of Victorian Academic Gothic style applied to an educational building. (Criterion 5.1) Old Perth Boys School is extremely rare as the oldest extant government school building, a title shared with P842 Film and Television Institute (RHP). (Criterion 5.1) Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College is rare as remnants of earlier stages of development along St Georges Terrace, which in combination with the adjacent P2111 Newspaper House and P2113 WA Trustee Co & Royal Insurance Co Bld form a rare and distinctive group in this regard. (Criterion 5.1) 12. 2 REPRESENTATIVENESS Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College are respectively well designed representative examples of Victorian Academic Gothic and Federation Gothic style architecture, demonstrating both the physical elements and design ethos behind these styles. (Criterion 6.1) Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College are representative examples of the provision of government education, the design and history of these buildings demonstrating the development of this theme. (Criterion 6.1) Perth Technical College is representative of the work of Hillson Beasley and William Atkins, both in the design and construction of government buildings. (Criterion 6.1) 12. 3 CONDITION Perth Technical College underwent comprehensive conservation works between 2011 and 2012 as part of the Brookfield Place redevelopment, and Old Perth Boys School similarly underwent comprehensive conservation works in through the involvement of the National Trust of Australia (WA). As such the overall place is in very good condition. 12. 4 INTEGRITY Overall, Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College, is of moderate integrity, with original intention of each building still apparent and restoration to an educational use an unlikely but technical possibility. Old Perth Boys School no longer functions as a school, but has been partially restored to an education- associated function associated with Curtin University. Perth Technical College no longer functions as an educational institution, although the original intention remains somewhat identifiable within some of the former classroom and teaching spaces which have not been subdivided. 12. 5 AUTHENTICITY Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College, is of moderate to high authenticity overall. The St Georges Terrace building facades are mostly authentic, although new roofing and the provision of air conditioning has impacted the buildings. The Register of Heritage Places 5 Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College 28 June 2019 southern addition to Old Perth Boys School has been removed, moving the southern elevation closer to its original design, although the impact of the 1930s development can still be read in the brickwork. The building interiors are largely authentic, with original elements and decorative finishes, such as staircases, wall linings, ceilings, plasterwork, lift casings, joinery skirtings, and cornices generally retained and conserved, or reconstructed to original detail. Interior fitouts, and other modifications carried out to cater for the new uses, such as the subdivision of internal spaces, installation of new services, or compliance upgrades, have generally been undertaken so as to be largely reversible and recognisable as new work. Register of Heritage Places 6 Old Perth Boys School & Perth Technical College 28 June 2019 13. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE The documentation for this place is based on the physical evidence completed by Palassis Architects, and the documentary evidence completed by consultant historian Eddie Marcus (History Now), in June 2016, with amendments and/or additions by the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (Heritage Services) staff and the Heritage Council’s Register Committee. 13. 1 DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE The documentary evidence for this place has been derived from the Conservation Plan for the Old Perth Boys School (2010) prepared by the National Trust (Western Australia), as well as documentary evidence prepared by Historian Eddie Marcus for the Perth Technical College in 2016. Physical evidence for the Perth Technical College was prepared by Palassis Architects in 2016. Alterations and edits to this text has been made by Heritage Services.1 In the earliest plans drawn up for the Swan River Colony, St George’s Terrace was already assigned the role of the colony’s main street. Although initially unnamed, it was usually called Front Street or Main Street and, later, the Terrace. The Governor’s domain, military establishment, Anglican Church, and government gardens were all established on St George’s Terrace. Towards the